Wagon Group Update

The latest wagon news update is now available on the Wagon Group website:

http://nvrwagons.wordpress.com/news-blog/

New Arrivals

As mentioned in an earlier posting on this blog, there have been two new stock arrivals on the railway. These are Swedish railcar No.1212, and a special ballast hopper to be paired with the TASC-45 civil engineering vehicle, which was recently returned to traffic after restoration from vandalised condition.


The bodywork of the railcar is in a bit of a state, but apparently it runs. The "International Railway Preservation Society" (IRPS) will be taking on the overhaul of the bodywork, so hopefully one day it will look as good as Swedish 'B' Class No.101, now cosmetically restored by the group.


The interior of the passenger saloon.


A not-very-good photo of one of the driving positions.

Much more detailed information about this vehicle can be found on the IRPS page here.

On a totally unrelated note, the "Battle of Britain Locomotive Society" (owners and restorers of Bulleid 4-6-2 No.34081 '92 Squadron') have an excellent write up on page 32 of the current "Steam Railway" magazine (Issue 396, December 2011). It is so good to see various projects around the railway appear in the railway media over recent weeks, with the "Heritage Railway" magazine feature on the TASC machine still to come (available in the shops from 22nd December). I hope this new appetite for publicity will continue, as any interest generated amongst railway enthusiasts and the wider public can only be a good thing!

Mk1's make progress

Work to the roof of BR Mk1 SK E25347 has progressed rapidly over the last two or three weeks since SNCB (Belgian) coach No.21013 vacated the carriage shed (happily in time for the 'Santa Specials'). As the photos show, the roof has been roughly divided into three manageable chunks, cleaning/rubbing down and repainting being undertaken in sections.


This roof was in particularly poor condition cosmetically, what little paint remained was coming away in flakes! This has now been removed, and approximately two-thirds of the roof rubbed down...


...in preparation for the first coats of paint, seen here applied to the first third of the roof (these photos are now a week old, so may already be out of date). The corroded roof vents have also been removed, and replacements fabricated already. I'm quite amazed at the rate of progress on this vehicle as work only began towards the end of November!


E25347 seen above is from the current running fleet, however Allan has been busy applying the lining to his Mk1 TSO No.4466 which is being restored from non-running condition. It is hoped that this coach will be ready for traffic before too long, giving a fleet of seven operational BR Mk1's for the first time in many years, with others in the wings awaiting their turn for restoration.

D9518 finds a new home!

D9518, the ex-BR Class 14 diesel that has resided in the damp Wansford tunnel for many years, has found a new home at Williton on the West Somerset Railway. It has been purchased by a member of the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group based there, as an appropriate Western Region 'diesel-hydraulic' to add to their fleet.

The report on the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group website can be found here: http://www.depg.org/dec11shed/3rd/D9518.doc

Repairs and Tidying

This week a couple of days were spent finishing off the new roof for one of the grounded van bodies at Wansford, and tidying this corner of the site by cutting and burning the vegetation on the embankment. Here we see the van bodies and embankment before work commenced, the lorry tarpaulin was not too bad but the supporting plywood was rotten and full of holes, allowing water to pool and pour into the van.


After installing the majority of the new boards a few weeks ago, the final ones were cut and fitted during the week, and felted as seen above.


The vans and embankment at the end of the day. Despite appearances these grounded 'Shocvan' bodies are structurally sound, they just look very tatty. A job for another day is to rebuild the doors with salvaged materials, and the whole lot can then be given a quick clean up and a lick of paint.


The new roof and tidied embankment makes quite a difference when compared to the first photo, which was taken only two weeks ago.